If you are a student at a college or university, you will most likely face such an assignment as a classification essay sooner or later during your studies. And you may be surprised, but this assignment is very helpful both for your professor and you.
The reason for that is that it helps evaluate your ability to categorize different data according to certain properties. Of course, if you have never tried writing it, it may seem a bit tough at first sight. However, there is nothing difficult in learning how to write your classification essay.
After you use the tips provided below and follow our writing steps, you will see how easy it is to write a good classification essay. Let’s see what kind of structure it should have and how to write it properly and quickly at the same time.
A classification essay definition
Before providing you with any hacks and tips, we want you to understand what a classification essay is. Without deep understanding, it is impossible to write a good piece of paper.
A classification essay is a paper in which you organize or sort things in categories. The purpose of a classification essay is to let your tutor know whether you have skills in generalization and categorizing.
However, your task will be not only to organize things into groups but also provide examples relating to each group. The criteria for your classification are up to you, but explaining your reasoning for it is a must.
Classification essay structure
Before starting your work on a classification essay, it is necessary to know how it should be structured. Don’t worry, a classification essay has a standard five-paragraph structure, so it should be already familiar to you.
You will just need to know for sure what you should write about in each of the parts, so let’s have a deeper look at each of the five paragraphs and find out how to write them properly.
Classification essay introduction
Like any other essay, your classification paper will start with an introduction part. However, we recommend writing it after you finish your body parts. This way, it will be much easier for you to explain your reasons for categorizing. After you have an overall picture, it is much better to cope with your introduction.
The introduction is to determine your subject and to explain what you are categorizing in your essay. Do not forget to tell me about the purpose of your paper – the reasons for categorizing things.
Like any introduction, that one of a classification essay should end with a strong thesis statement. It will give your readers a better idea of the groups categorized and explain each of them briefly.
Classification essay body paragraphs
As a rule, you should have at least three or a bit more body paragraphs in this type of essay. Every category should be separated in its paragraph. Start each paragraph with an explanation of the criteria for the category, and it is good to tell you about the strengths and weaknesses.
Providing relevant examples (evidence) is a must. If your paragraphs appear to be too long, divide them into shorter ones. However, make sure to have logical and not confusing transitions from one category to another.
Classification essay conclusion
This is your final fifth (or more) paragraph. It should unite different categories from the body of your essay. Make sure to provide a short summary of each of the categories in your conclusion. If you emphasized that one of the categories is recommended more than others (depending on the subject matter), explain why you came to that conclusion.
Writing a classification essay step-by-step
Although a classification essay has a structure similar to other essays, its principle is still a bit different, and this may cause some troubles when working on it. The main issue is that this type of essay supposes you to do more research.
Yes, you should do research for any essay too, but before working on your classification essay, you should find as much information as possible to categorize things properly. Even though students write classification essays quite often, they still struggle with that task.
And the reason for that is teachers do not provide students with clear guidelines on how to write a classification essay. And such an assignment is not the reason for any experiments; you should not guess but follow certain instructions and write a great essay on your own.
Below, you will find a step-by-step guide on how to write a good and outstanding classification essay without even proper instructions from your professor. Follow each of the steps, and we are sure you will manage to create a wonderful classification essay within a matter of hours.
Step 1 – Preparation
Preparation is a must for starting your work on a classification essay. Before you start writing, gather a lot of ideas, especially if you haven’t been assigned a specific topic. As an example, you can take one of the following topics:
- Procrastination and the attitude of modern people towards it;
- Types of diets;
- Genres of music;
- Types of religions;
- Dancing styles;
- Political systems;
- Types of common phobias;
- Educational apps;
- Psychological disorders.
We hope now you have a general idea of what you can write about. So if your professor didn’t assign you a particular topic, you could write on almost anything, the list of such topics for a classification essay is endless.
Pick a topic you are interested in; when you are excited about something, your reader will also be interested in it. Find the information on the chosen topic online. A good topic is something that can have a lot of ideas to work with and provide you with tons of materials to choose from.
Step 2 – Creating a thesis statement
The thesis statement is the basis of any essay, and a classification essay is not an exception. You should not just categorize things but tell your reader what exactly you are going to categorize and why. And all this has to be contained in the thesis.
So, write about the key approaches you are examining in your paper. The reader should get an idea and expect something from your essay, so tell them what it is and provide the readers with this information throughout your paper.
Step 3 – Planning
Planning is a crucial step, so don’t neglect it. First of all, plan how much time you need to write, review, and edit your paper. We are sure you have your deadline to submit it. You should organize the process and do not procrastinate until the very last day. If you do that, your efficiency for other tasks will be lowered.
Once you determined your time frames, create a good and efficient outline. Since you already did your research, you know what you are approximately writing about. Write down all the ideas that come up to your mind, and then, you will be able to choose the best ones.
Include all the examples and evidence to explain your classifications. At the end of your introduction, put a thesis statement.
Step 4 – Doing more research
Yes, you already did it, but it only gave you an idea of how to plan your categories and what to write about at all. You have outlined the categories already. Now just try to find as much information as possible about each of the categories. You should cite credible sources to show the information provided is reliable. Now do the following:
- Describe or determine each category;
- Use clear but informative definitions;
- Enlist the general characteristics for each category;
- Update your plan and add all new information and ideas you have come up with;
- Note down all the resources to cite in the future.
Step 5 – Writing a classification essay
As you can see, you can start writing your classification essay only after thorough preparation. But now, as you have a strong outline, you can easily write your paper. Just connect those ideas and sentences and put everything in a logical order. You already know what you should write in your introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.
Revising your paper
Congratulations! You have written your own classification essay now. But the process isn’t finished yet. You should now put it aside for some time and get back to it in a couple of hours and better after getting some sleep.
Do not neglect the revision stage. You will be surprised by how many mistakes and shortcomings you will see after reading it a couple of times again. Make sure everything is written logically. If one of the body paragraphs is longer than others, think of breaking it down into smaller ones.
Get rid of all the grammar mistakes and typos – they will lower your grade a lot. Proofreading your classification essay is a must if you want it to be perfect!
